Start of Something New
by Braids21
Summary: [slash TroyRyan] Why was he acting this way? Ryan was a guy. Why did Troy feel this attraction to him? [FINISHED!]
1. The Curtain Call

**Start of Something New**

**Warning: This is SLASH. If you don't like it, than there's a simple solution... Don't read it!**

**A/N:** I noticed the very few Troy/Ryan slashes here, and being an avid slasher, I decided, why not write one? So I hope you enjoy this:-)

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Troy stood on the stage, graciously accepting the thunderous applause and standing ovation he was receiving for his theatrical debut in East High School's winter musical, _Twinkle Town_. But his mind was far from anything musical-oriented. He was concentrating on not thinking about the electricity flowing from his right hand, which was at the moment linked with his supporting co-star, Ryan Evans. Troy had grabbed Ryan's hand to take their bow for the curtain call, and from the moment their fingers entwined, Troy had felt a sensational spark. Ryan must have felt it too, as he had squeezed Troy's hand as they took the second company bow. 

The curtain slowly closed, and the screams and cheers from the cast pulled Troy back into reality. He finally let go of Ryan's hand, not by choice, but because Gabriella had thrown her arms around him in a congratulatory hug. He of course reciprocated, but again, his thoughts were anywhere but on hugging her. She finally let go, and Troy made his way out of the crowd of ecstatic cast members. Ryan caught his eye as Troy moved past him. Troy's stomach did a little flip-flop, and he tried his hardest to ignore it.

Why was he acting this way? Ryan was a _guy_. Why did Troy feel this attraction to him? Troy had to get out of there, and fast, before he did something he would regret. He quickly exited the stage, walking toward the lobby.

Troy received tremendous praise and hugs from everyone he met in East's lobby after the show. The entire basketball team had showed up for opening night to cheer him on, and were now surrounding Troy, showering him with handshakes and slaps on the back. Chad even went as far as starting their ritual "Wildcats" chant to congratulate Troy.

Troy had a smile plastered on his face, but he basically was just going through the motions. This should have been a great experience for him, the high from his first ever opening night still apparent, but all Troy wanted to do was vacate the premises immediately, without having to face Ryan. He excused himself from Chad and his other friends, and made his way back to the dressing rooms.

He walked into the dressing room, already starting to unbutton his shirt, and upon looking up, immediately froze. There was Ryan, in the midst of getting changed. Ryan was shirtless, and had already changed into jeans.

Troy's breath caught in his throat, as his stomach flip-flopped again and face grew a bit flushed. Ryan finally looked up, catching Troy staring at his bare chest.

"Troy… I didn't know you were there…"

Troy fumbled for a response. "I was just coming to change… beat the rush of people…"

"Yeah, me too. Hey, you going to Friday's?" Ryan asked Troy, indicating the opening night tradition of going to the Friday's Restaurant with the entire cast.

Troy had forgotten all about that. Even though he wanted to bolt out of there, he knew he couldn't skip out of the opening night celebrations. "Yeah, I guess I am…" Troy finally answered back.

Ryan smiled, causing Troy's heart to skip a beat, making Troy even more confused than he already was. "Great! Well…" Ryan pulled a polo shirt over his head, making Troy think he looked like he could be an Abercrombie model. Troy shook his head slightly to get that thought out of his mind as Ryan continued. "I guess I'll see you there. I gotta go find Sharpay and my parents. Bye!" Ryan flashed Troy one more smile before exiting the room, leaving Troy flustered and staring at the empty doorway after Ryan.

When had Troy changed? Why was he having these feelings toward Ryan? Troy's entire outlook of his sexuality had seemed to change in that few seconds their hands touched.

Troy slowly began changing, slightly aware of the fact that the dressing room was starting to fill up with more of his cast mates, all chatting excitable about the night's show. Troy tried to focus his attention on changing, but he couldn't seem to keep his mind from thinking about Ryan. He knew he had to deal with those feelings sometime, but Troy was scared shitless about what all that might mean. He couldn't be gay, right?

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**A/N: **And thus ends the first chapter. I don't really know how many chapters there will be, but it won't a huge fic. Maybe five or six. I don't know... Hopefully I've have the second chapter out soon, but I'm not sure if I'll get it out before I go on Spring Break. 

Anyway, hope you like it! It's my first HSM fic, but definately not my first fic here on FFN. If you like the movie Newsies, check the rest of my fics out. hehe...

And now here's the part I love.REVIEWS! Criticism is always welcome, so press that button and review:-)

**-Laura**


	2. Friday's

**START OF SOMETHING NEW – Ch 2: Friday's**

**Disclaimer: **This is SLASH. Don't like it? Then why did you even read the first chapter? (haha). Oh, and I don't own anything either.

**A/N: **Yes I know, this update is LONG overdue. XD. More from me afterwards, and enjoy!

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The buzz of twenty-something students filled Troy's ears as he sat blank-faced at a crowded table at the local Friday's restaurant. By a stroke of sheer bad luck, Ryan was sitting right next to Troy, animatedly talking to his twin about something that happened in the lobby after the show, all while coming a little too close into Troy's comfort zone. 

Gabriella, of course, was talking Troy's ear off, but Troy had no idea what she was saying. Troy was concentrating far too much on _not _looking at Ryan and even trying to block out the sound of Ryan's voice.

Troy knew he had to deal with whatever was going on inside of him sometime, but right then, all he wanted to do was get as far away from Ryan Evans as humanly possible. Yet still, Troy felt compelled to glance at Ryan ever so often. They had gotten to be sort-of friends over the course of the musical, and Troy couldn't help but to over hear Ryan's story.

When he realized he was practically hanging on Ryan's every word, he inwardly cursed himself, and immediately excused himself to go to the bathroom. While alone in the men's room, Troy splashed his face with cold water, desperately trying to calm down and rid his mind of any and all thoughts of the Evans boy.

After dessert was done and the cast was starting to leave, Troy quickly slipped out and high-tailed it to the parking lot. Once returning from his bathroom visit, Troy had gotten away with not speaking a word to Ryan, and for the most part, hadn't glanced at him that much either. He pulled his keys out and unlocked his car, and was about to open the car door when he heard his name being called out.

"Troy, wait up."

At the sound of that voice, Troy's head whipped around. The person he had managed to avoid for most of the evening was quickly approaching his car.

"What do you want Ryan?" A hint of frustration and annoyance played on Troy's voice.

Ryan winced a little at the harsh tone, but continued with his question. "I, uh, just wanted to ask you why you ignored me all night… Did I do something wrong?"

_Yes, you got me so confused, _Troy thought to himself, but kept that comment in his head. He quickly came up with an excuse. "I didn't realize I was. I guess I just don't feel that well or something. I should go now…" Troy fumbled for his door to get the hell away from that awkward situation.

Ryan was not convinced of that response. He needed an honest answer from Troy. Before Troy could get into his car, Ryan reached over and grabbed Troy's shoulders, blocking him from entering the vehicle. He could feel Troy's shoulders tense up under his grip.

Troy's heartbeat was going a million miles a minute. Not only was the boy who had caused him so much confusion in the past few hours trying to talk to him, but he was also gripping his shoulders, surprisingly tight. Troy shrugged Ryan's grip off his shoulders as he turned around.

"What now, Ryan?"

Ryan bit his lip, then quietly and nervously asked, "Is this about what happened during Curtain Call?"

Troy's breath caught in his throat and his eyes grew wide. Ryan had felt it too! Not knowing what to say in response, Troy stood there, shocked, and racked his brain for an answer. The first thought that came into his head was simple. Denial. Troy shook his head the tiniest bit to clear his mind, and finally responded to Ryan's question.

"What are you talking about? The Curtain Call? I have no idea what happened… probably something you made up, because you're like in love with me or something," Troy spat out, inwardly winding at what just came out of his mouth and his harsh tone.

A flicker of hurt and confusion flashed across Ryan's face, but vanished in a few seconds.

"Never mind. I… I guess I should go," Ryan said quietly, as he backed away from Troy, his eyes focused on the ground. He turned and jogged back into the restaurant, leaving Troy standing in his open car door alone.

Troy stood there dumbstruck for a second. Had he really just said that to Ryan?

Shakily, Troy entered his car and turned on the ignition. He quickly glanced back toward the restaurant, just in time to see Sharpay and Ryan exiting, Ryan looking completely crushed.

"Shit," Troy breathed out, banging his steering wheel with his hands, "What have I done?"

Taking a deep breath, Troy slowly backed his car out of his parking space and onto the highway, heading for home. His mind was still moving a hundred miles a minutes, ninety-nine percent of the thoughts on Ryan and what just happened, but suddenly Troy knew exactly what he had to do. He was still confused as ever, but he had to apologize to Ryan.

And boy, it would _not _be easy.

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**A/N: **Ehh, it's kinda short and not my best work, but hey... it's updated! haha 

First off, I want to say and HUGE thank you to all my reviewers. 34 reviews for ONE chapter? -loves- That's amazing, and I love you all, and your reviews meant so much to me.Secondly, I'm extremely sorry for the long wait for this. I had half of it written for the longest time, but I could never end it the way I wanted to. But I finally got over the block :-)

Enough babble from me... Now it's your turn to babble... REVIEW :-) (Cookies to anyone who does! haha)

**-Laura**


	3. An eventful intermission

**START OF SOMETHING NEW – Ch 3: An eventful intermission**

**Disclaimer: **SLASH. If you don't like, then why are you even reading this far into the story?

**A/N:** -crawls out from under the lurkage rock- Hello everyone, I'm back! This update is wayyyyy over due. So, without any more from me, enjoy the final chapter of Start of Something New! (edited 1.18.07)

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That night, Troy could not sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, thoughts of Ryan and their electricity-filled hand contact plagued his dreams. He never knew he could think of one boy that often. He felt extremely guilty for being so hard to Ryan after the restaurant, and knew the apology was inevitable, but whenever he bang to think about that confrontation, Troy broke out into a sweat. He honestly did not know how he was going to apologize, especially when he couldn't think of Ryan, much less actually speak to the boy, without becoming tongue-tied and turned on.

Which brought up another question that freaked Troy out. He was _not_ gay. He couldn't be. He was a jock; captain of the varsity basketball team at East High. Jocks were _not_ gay in Troy's mind. Plus, he had had girlfriends before. True, his relationship with Gabriella hadn't turned into anything more than a friendship, but that didn't mean anything…

But after that night's curtain call, Troy didn't know what to think.

The rest of that Saturday morning and afternoon passed uneventfully, Troy growing even more anxious and nervous than he already was by the second. Finally, the clock ran five o'clock, signaling to Troy that it was time to head to school, for he had a five-thirty call for that night's show of _Twinkle_ _Town_.

Troy's heart rate sped up a bit as he pushing open the doors of East High's auditorium. Not only because Ryan was inside those doors, but because he knew what he had to do. He knew he had to apologize, but even after agonizing about over what he wanted to say, he still had no idea what he was going to say or how he was planning to articulate it. As he pushed the heavy mahogany doors, he entered nonchalantly, as if he didn't have a care in the world. He caught a glimpse of Ryan and winced, for Ryan was standing right next to Gabriella.

Of course, because of his luck, Gabriella caught sight of him, and waved him over to the group. She began to babble to him about her day and who was coming to the show that night, but Troy did not hear a word. He was too busy staring at Ryan, who was blatantly ignoring him. He hadn't even said hello to Troy as he arrived, but Troy didn't blame him. If Ryan had done that to him the night before, he would be mad and ignoring Ryan as well.

He finally got a chance to talk to Ryan right before the curtain.

"Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?" Troy questioned shyly.

Ryan eyed him, a scowl playing on his face. "What do you want Troy? You made it quite clear that you did want anything to do with me last night."

"That's what I want to talk to you about, I didn't what I was saying last night, and…"

"OKAY EVERYONE! SHOW TIME IS HERE! PLACES!" Mrs. Darbus called out, cutting Troy off.

Troy cursed under his breath, and looked at Ryan. "Can we finish this conversation during intermission, maybe?"

"Fine. Whatever. I need to get to the other side of the stage." Ryan retorted, and made a hurried exit from the room.

Troy's gaze followed the boy out the door, sighing with relief, as he did not even fully know what he had been planning to say.

Intermission came quicker than Troy had thought it would, and Troy was still scared shitless. Over the course of the two and a half hours he had been in the presence of Ryan's animosity, Troy finally began to realize just what he had to say.

The lust he felt toward the other boy finally registered in his brain. Troy had been waiting in the wings for his next scene, and Ryan was singing a solo on stage. Troy could not turn his attention away from the boy and ever inch of his body began to feel tingly, almost like the shock he had felt during the previous night's curtain call.

As the applause from Ryan's song jarred Troy from his mind-searching, Troy looked up just in time to catch Ryan's eyes as he exited the stage. In that instant, Troy realized he wanted him, and wanted him badly.

When that thought entered his brain, Troy's eyes grew extremely wide. Had he really just thought that about another boy? Again? And then another thought popped into his musings, thinking like that about another boy means only one thing. He was gay. He was _gay_. Oh _shit_.

And right after coming to that realization, Troy had to go onstage for a duet between him and Gabriella that closed Act I. To say that Troy's mind wasn't on acting and singing was an understatement.

During the intermission, Troy found Ryan, and forced him into a dressing room to talk.

Ryan shut the dressing room door, and turned toward Troy. "What do you want, Troy?" He sighed in exhaustion.

Troy took a deep breath and licked his lips in nervousness. "I want to apologize for my behavior last night."

Ryan eyed him cautiously. "Am I hearing you correctly?" Troy nodded. "Fine. Then apologize."

This was it. The time for Troy to confess everything was at hand.

Troy swallowed nervously. _Well, here goes nothing_, Troy thought to himself. "First off, what I said last night was completely out of line. And I'm sorry."

Ryan cut him off. "Yeah, not buying that."

"Will you let me finish? Thanks," Troy shot Ryan a glance, and almost immediately melted under his gaze. He quickly averted his eyes, and composed himself again. "Look, I'm really not good at stuff like this… Ever since last night's show, I've been so confused and scared, and I just couldn't deal with it, so I snapped at you, seeing as you were the cause of all the confusion. I… I guess because of what happened it made me think about things I never gave a second thought too, and I began to like what I was thinking, and I freaked. And after I said those things to you I immediately regretted it, but was still too damn scared and confused to go back inside and tell you that. But then today watching you, I realized I shouldn't be scared and I'm not confused anymore…"

All throughout his speech, Troy was looking anywhere but at Ryan. If he had though, he would have seen first a very confused Ryan, but by the end, would have seen an extremely delighted Ryan. Which he did, as he glanced up at Ryan when he trailed off.

Ryan gazed at Troy, a smirk on his face. "Will you just shut up and kiss me already? Because I know you want to."

Troy's mouth dropped open, and he fumbled for the right words. When he couldn't find them, Ryan chimed in, "Do I have to do everything?"

Ryan leaned into Troy, crushing their mouths together. Troy gasped at the sudden contact, but soon found himself enjoying it. Ryan's hands had found their way to his hair and his waist, and the electricity that the two had felt at the curtain call the night before had returned with a vengeance. Everywhere Ryan touched sent shivers down Troy's spine, and the kisses Ryan planted on his lips made it even more intense.

The two broke apart a few minutes later, a sort-of awkward silence filled the room.

"So… I guess this means the apology is accepted?" Troy inquired.

Ryan placed a small peck on Troy's mouth. "Yes, you dumbass. You are forgiven."

Troy smiled up at Ryan, his mind telling him he made the best choice to finally accept who he was.

The rest of the night's show went on without a hitch, Troy and Ryan positively glowing in their parts.

And when the thunderous applause and the standing ovation during the curtain call happened that night, Troy was standing there on the stage right next to Ryan, hand in hand as they took their final bow. If anyone were to look closely, they could spy that their fingers were intertwined, but no one paid any attention to that tiny detail.

Troy squeezed Ryan's hand as the curtain descended. Sure, he was still a bit scared about the realities facing him, but he was glad he would have someone to help him along the way. He truly was starting something new, and he knew in his heart this was what he wanted.

**THE END**

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**A/N: **whew! This fic is over! It only took me 9 months to get it done. haha. 

And I just wanted to say a very big THANK YOU to each and every one of my reviewers. I seriously love you all. 54 reviews for 2 chapters? That is the most I've every gotten, and it means so much to me that you all enjoy me writing. Also, I want to say that I'm home from college for a month (winter break), so that is why I actually updated. So hopefully I will update Everything Changes sometime soon as well! So keep your eyes open for more updates from me!

Okay, enough babbling from me. The fic is finished, so now more than ever I want your feedback. So please leave me a review! (Oh, and cookies to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and my mom's Christmas cookies to everyone who reviews this chapter! hehe)

**--Laura--**


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